Following on from the 3-0 defeat to Arsenal on Tuesday evening, it must be asked, is the Wigan Athletic youth set up good enough?
The present squad is made up of players brought in from outside the club and of recent years, Leighton Baines is the only player of note to establish himself through the youth set up at the club.
Baines would also appear to be more of a fluke than the result of a well run and well funded youth set up.
Without taking away the hard work that the current staff put in, the present system is clearly not up the scratch and a full overhaul is long overdue.
The squad is present made up solely of players brought into the club. A mixture of 30-something free transfers, players cast off from other clubs and the odd Egyptian superstar.
This is not a sustainable way to maintain Premiership status.
The wages paid to such 30-something players will be high and it seems that the short term cost of survival at all costs is being put ahead of sustainable growth for the future.
As well as players breaking through and complimenting the present first team squad, there will also be players who break through and can be sold. A prime example would be Lee Cattermole. The England under 21 international midfielder cost over £3 million from Middlesbrough.
Cattermole started his career with 'Boro and worked his way through the youth ranks before making the club a tidy profit on his departure.
Middlesbrough are a club of similar stature to the Latics and have a far better youth set up.
Of the present squad, a good number of players have come through their ranks. Stewart Downing, Andrew Taylor, Adam Johnson, Ross Turnbull, David Wheater and Johnathon Grounds have all come through the youth set up at the Riverside.
Manchester City have also had a good conveyor belt of talent come through in recent years. Noticably, Michael Johnson of the present squad, whilst Shaun Wright-Phillips is another recent name of note.
Micah Richards, Nedum Onuoha, Stephen Ireland, Kasper Schmeichel and Ched Evans are further players to break through at City.
On the other side of the coin, it may be fair to say that working in the back yard of clubs such as Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton, it may be somewhat difficult to attract the cream of the crop.
A journey to Crewe would disprove this theory. A club that often punches above its weight, Crewe could well be in the top flight had they not needed to sell off their star players.
For the club to have a sustainable status in the top flight it is not enough to continue picking up decent 30 year old free transfers and the odd Egyptian superstar.
It must go further than that. The wages paid to the afore mentioned 30 year old free transfers could well be put to better use building up a solid foundation for the future.
There is also the prospect of unearthing a Stewart Downing or a Shaun Wright-Phillips and the club could make a tidy profit on such a player.
Further still is the potential future rule changes that may require home grown players in a squad. A fact that would hinder the Latics more than most.
To continue to acquire players on short term deals and hoping that we manage to un-earth an Egyptian superstar each season to see us through is not going to last forever.
How long will the Latics survive on the current system? There seems to be a rotating door of players in and out at the club since promotion to the top flight.
The core of the squad is ripped out nearly every close season and replaced at high cost with new so called superstars. It is going to happen again this summer, it may even happen in January if both Emile Heskey and Amr Zaki leave.
Latics should look at club's such as Middlesbrough, Manchester City and even Crewe and learn from how their youth systems operate.
Take advantage of our Premiership status to attract players who would surely have a better chance of making our first team than that of Liverpool or Manchester United.
Give these players the facilities they need and allow them to play in a suitable youth league set up. They can be loaned out or even given the chance in the first team.
At present, the Latics will continue to lurch from transfer to transfer each close season in a desperate scramble for players of former glories to help us survive.
Is it worth looking to the future a little more by investing in the youth set up at the club. I certainly think so.
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